Why Random Encounters Matter in Pokemon

Anyone who’s familiar with Pokémon knows that since its inception in 1996 the franchise has gone on to become one of the biggest in the world. It's undoubted that there is a unique magic to the series. However, many fans have been claiming that this magic has been fading. From the very beginning there have been claims that the Pokémon franchise will die. And in today's social media climate it is a trend to make these claims after every new release.

While I personally don’t believe the Pokémon franchise is dying anytime soon outside of a cataclysmic disaster I, like all fans, have my personal preferences and quirks regarding the franchise. So today I will share one of my personal concerns with a direction the franchise has taken recently.

If you a fan of my Pokémon Emerald Let’s Play videos you’ll know that I touched on random encounters and how I feel they are an essential part of the Pokémon experience. While the origin of the random encounter mechanic was due to necessity over time the mechanic has evolved to become a beloved signature in Japanese RPGs.

For the Pokémon franchise random encounters were a critical part of the game’s lore. One of the very first things the player learns in the game is the dangers of stepping into the tall grass because that is where wild Pokémon will attack the player at random. As the series progressed GameFreak built upon this mechanic with features like shiny Pokémon, Pokerus, abilities that attract certain Pokémon types, and more.

The lore of the mechanic was also built upon, in generation II roaming legendary Pokémon were introduced. These Pokémon roamed all around the game world and players would either use all of their knowledge and skills to track down these Pokémon or ignore them until a chance encounter. This optional and random nature allowed players to approach the challenge in any way they see fit.

In generation IV the lore of random encounters was further expounded upon with the ancient promise that the Pokémon made that they would always jump out at humans when they enter tall grass.

As these examples show, the concept of random encounters has been a key part of the Pokémon experience. But, it seems that GameFreak is trying to pull away from that concept in modern games for the sake of an less involved gameplay experience.

In 2018 GameFreak released Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee and Pikachu. Inspired by the phenomenal success of Pokémon Go, the games took a marked turn to casualize the game in hopes of drawing in Pokémon Go players. Part of this decision was to completely remove the random encounters replacing them with wandering overworld models.

Playing these through games I felt a distinct lack of wonder that I had never felt with any of the games that came before. The absence =of random encounters meant that every Pokémon I saw was something that I saw on the map and chose to run into, there was no magic. Even the shiny encounters appear on the overwold map so there is no mystery or surprise. This, coupled with the dumbed down catching, and battling mechanics made this retread through the Kanto region the least enjoyable I have had.

Many veteran players agreed with this sentiment and there were concerns about the upcoming generation VIII. GameFreak assuaged those worries and Sword and Shield saw a mix of the overworld encounters and tall grass random encounters. Personally, I feel that the approach used in Sword and Shield was the best approach.

GameFreak then released Legends Arceus which once again did away with random encounters. Even though the lore in the game still references the Sinnoh lore about the ancient Pokémon promising to jump out at people that venture into tall grass. Like the Let’s Go games, Legend’s Arceus was an experimental subset of the main series so there was no need to be concerned.

Then came Generation IX, Scarlet and Violet. GameFreak decided to remove random encounters entirely for the same wandering overworld encounters from Let’s Go and Legends Arceus. I enjoyed Scarlet and Violet but, same as with Let’s Go and Legends Arceus, I felt that lack of wonder to the Pokémon encounters.

If GameFreak is truly planning to remove random encounters, then I feel the games lose a key part of their charm. Will I continue to play and enjoy the games, of course. But I will miss this feature and will feel a part of the charm missing without that tension and mystery of stepping into the tall grass and wondering what discovery awaits.

There you have it, my thoughts on one feature that I feel is sorely missing from Scarlet and Violet and hope is not an indicator of the future direction for the series. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Feel free to let me know in the comments. Also please consider supporting me on Patreon so I can keep writing pieces like this. Thanks and take care!